1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to blood sampling technology and more particularly, to a blood sampler, which provides blood sample collection, blood sample centrifugation and hypodermic injection functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although blood is mainly a liquid called plasma, it also contains red cells, white cells, and platelets. The red blood cells are for delivering oxygen to all parts of the body. The white blood cells are a part of the immune system and help the body tight infection. The platelets are best known for their importance in clotting blood. However, platelets also contain hundreds of proteins called growth factors which are very important in the healing of injuries. Platelets stop bleeding by clumping and clogging blood vessel injuries. When platelets get to the site of the injury, they grow sticky tentacles that help them adhere. They also send out chemical signals to attract more platelets to pile onto the clot in a process called aggregation. Tissue repair begins with clot formation and platelet degranulation, which release the growth factors (GFs) necessary for wound repair. Except orthopedic treatment, RP (Platelet-rich plasma) technology has also been used in the treatment of diabetic foot, pressure ulcers and other chronic wound care, ophthalmic will use this autologous plasma for treatment of corneal ulcers or dry eye.
Since the platelets derived from the bone marrow are rich in growth factors that are the most easily accessible of human growth factors and can be used to promote angiogenesis and tissue regeneration and repair. However, because blood plasma also contains with red blood cells and white blood, the concentration of platelets in blood plasma is not enough for tissue repair. To develop a PRP preparation, blood must first be drawn from a patient. The platelets are separated from other blood cells through a centrifugation process, and their concentration is increased. Then the increased concentration of platelets can then be injected into the body to promote tissue regeneration and repair.
In operation, it needs to drain blood from the vein using a syringe with a blood injection needle, and then to inject collected blood into a test tube, and then to seal the test tube with a rubber cap and then put the test tube in a centrifuge for separation. After the centrifugation process, blood is separated into blood plasma at the bottom, platelet-rich plasma on the middle and serum in the upper phase. At this time, the medicare personnel needs to use another syringe and blood injection needle set and to insert the blood injection needle through the rubber cap of the test tube and the serum in the test tube into the platelet-rich plasma and to draw the platelet-rich plasma out of the test tube into the syringe. Because the amount of the serum in the test tube is higher than the amount of the platelet-rich plasma, a small amount of the serum can be drawn into the syringe when collecting the platelet-rich plasma. More particularly, if the length of the blood injection needle is not enough, the collected platelet-rich plasma can be mixed with a certain amount of the serum, lowering the concentration of the platelet-rich plasma and rendering an adverse effect on the tissue repair.
More particularly, in the process of autologous blood transfusion of collection of blood from a single patient and retransfusion back to the same patient, a first syringe and blood injection needle set is used to draw blood from the patient and to inject the collected blood into a test tube that is then sealed and put in a centrifuge for separation, enabling the collected blood to be separated into blood plasma at the bottom, platelet-rich plasma on the middle and serum in the upper phase. Thereafter, a second syringe and blood injection needle is used to draw the middle layer of platelet-rich plasma out of the test tube and then to inject the platelet-rich plasma into the injured are of the body of the patient. Because syringes, blood injection needle and test tube are disposable medical supplies, these disposable medical supplies must be undergo environmental treatment to prevent pollution. In the aforesaid process of autologous blood transfusion of collection of blood from a single patient and retransfusion back to the same patient, two syringe and blood injection needle sets and one test tube are used, wasting medical supplies. Further, the procedure is complicated.
There is known a vacuum blood sampler available on the market. The vacuum blood sampler comprises a holder 1, a blood collection needle 2, and a vacutainer tube 3. The blood collection needle 2 is fastened to one end of the holder 1. The vacutainer tube 3 has a stopper 4 fastened to a front end thereof. After insertion of the vacutainer tube 3 into the holder 1, the sharp rear end of the blood collection needle 2 is inserted through the stopper 4 into the inside of the vacutainer tube 3. When sampling blood of a patient, insert the blood collection needle 2 into the patient's vein, and then pull and push the vacutainer tube 3, drawing blood out of the patient's vein into the vacutainer tube 3. After removal of the vacutainer tube 3 from the holder 1, the stopper 4 seals the collected blood in the vacutainer tube 3. The vacutainer tube 3 is then transferred to a centrifuge for enabling the collected blood to be separated into plasma, platelet-rich plasma and serum. In application, a hypodermic syringe is used with a new blood injection needle draw the platelet-rich plasma from the vacutainer tube 3 and then to inject the platelet-rich plasma into the wound area of the patient. This method needs to use a vacuum blood sampler consisting of a holder 1, a blood collection needle 2 and a vacutainer tube 3 for collecting blood from the patient and separating platelet-rich plasma from the collected blood, and then to use a hypodermic syringe with a new blood injection needle for injecting the platelet-rich plasma into the wound area of the patient. This procedure is complicated, wastes medical supplies, and brings a waste material recycling problem.